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A review by rosseroo
Street Angel Gang by Brian Maruca, Jim Rugg
3.0
I picked this up because I liked the premise of a homeless 12-year-old skateboarding girl as a superhero. This book collects five of her adventures in Angel City, each of which has elements of basic superhero comic-book structure, action scenes, sardonic humor, and ninjas. And while that all sounds like a brilliant stew, it never really rose to the levels of awesomeness I was hoping for.
Among the villains she takes on are a mad scientist, time-travelling pirates, a Satanic demon, the creepy girl from The Ring, and in a crossover with creators' Afrodisiac series, a bunch of rednecks seeking to kill the elderly blaxploitation superhero. But for me, the best story is one where her battle is the daily struggle to find food when you're a homeless kid. A little more of that realism in the other stories might have made for a more interesting contrast. Mixed in with the long stories are some shorter ones, sometimes drawn in completely different styles, which is kind of fun.
It's worth noting that some may not want to put this book into children's hands without reading it first. Some of the stories have very high body counts and very graphic panels (lots of blood, severed limbs, swords sticking through heads, etc.), and our adolescent heroine does drink 40s and one short story is threatened with sexual assault by two ninjas.
In any event, it's an indie comic with some moxie, but I can't say I'm interested in tracking down any further adventures of Street Angel. As imaginative as some of the elements are, the stories are mostly not that engaging.
Among the villains she takes on are a mad scientist, time-travelling pirates, a Satanic demon, the creepy girl from The Ring, and in a crossover with creators' Afrodisiac series, a bunch of rednecks seeking to kill the elderly blaxploitation superhero. But for me, the best story is one where her battle is the daily struggle to find food when you're a homeless kid. A little more of that realism in the other stories might have made for a more interesting contrast. Mixed in with the long stories are some shorter ones, sometimes drawn in completely different styles, which is kind of fun.
It's worth noting that some may not want to put this book into children's hands without reading it first. Some of the stories have very high body counts and very graphic panels (lots of blood, severed limbs, swords sticking through heads, etc.), and our adolescent heroine does drink 40s and one short story is threatened with sexual assault by two ninjas.
In any event, it's an indie comic with some moxie, but I can't say I'm interested in tracking down any further adventures of Street Angel. As imaginative as some of the elements are, the stories are mostly not that engaging.